Ribbit! (1965)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 15:52:01 -0500, Dennis R. Preston <preston at MSU.EDU> wrote:

>Not "greedep" down Louisville way. It was clearly "needeep" (with the
>obvious association with "kneedeep").

Do we have Joel Chandler Harris to thank for "knee-deep"?

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Atlanta Constitution, Feb 8, 1880, p. 2/3
Uncle Remus's Folk-Lore: Brer Fox and the Deceitful Frogs. XIV.
"Den n'er Frog holler out:
"'Knee deep! Knee deep!'"
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Full text of the story here:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/Harris2/ch14.html

And here is the Disneyfied rendition from _Song of the South_ (1946):

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http://www.songofthesouth.net/movie/script/reel-1section-a.html
MCU of Tempy and Johnny over Sally's shoulder.
Tempy:    "GRACIOUS GOODNESS, JOHNNY...
           WE'S ALMOST DAR! LISSEN! YOU
          AIN'T NEVER HEER'D NO FROGS
          LIKE DEM IN ATLANTA."
John o.s.: "YOU KNOW WHAT THEY'RE SAYING?"
CUT TO:
MCU of Sally and John.
John:  "KNEE-DEEP!  KNEE-DEEP!"
CUT TO:
ECU of Johnny.
Johnny:   "HONEST!"
John:     "HONEST."
Johnny:   "KNEE-DEEP!  KNEE-DEEP!"
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--Ben Zimmer